Subdivision planned for summer start

Prelim plans for Sieverkropp are approved by City

A new housing development will soon be coming to the Heights in Hood River, pending final approval of the city planning department.

The 98-lot Sieverkropp 3rd Addition Subdivision is planned to start construction this summer and will be located on 23.97 acres of Residential-1 and Residential-2 property located in the Pacific Avenue section of the Heights.

The development’s site is currently comprised of a section of fallow land that abuts a completed development up in the Pacific Avenue area a couple blocks east of Horizon Christian School. It will be roughly bound by the city limits to the east and by Cameo Drive to the south.

Plans submitted to the city late last year called for a 100-lot subdivision in the same area, with R-1 lots averaging 11,182 square feet in size and R-2 lots averaging 5,748 square feet, with average allowable lot coverage at 4,473 square feet and 2,588 square feet, respectively.

A small swath of open space as well as pedestrian paths will also be included in the development. The easternmost lots, which include some of the largest in the development, overlook the Hood River canyon.

The city approved a revised preliminary plan last month that reduced the development to 98 lots as well as reducing the average size of the 68 R-2 lots to 5,428 square feet while increasing the 30 R-1 lots to an average of 12,380 square feet. The entire footprint of the development is still within the 23.97 acres. The maximum amount of allowable lot coverage is 40 percent for the R-1 lots and 45 percent for the R-2 lots.

The development will also occur in smaller phases than previously planned.

Linda Shipley, of Sieverkropp Orchards, a Sherwood-based company listed as the project’s developer and owner of the property, explained that the lots were “reconfigured to accommodate the slopes on the east side of the property, resulting in several prime, large lots.”

Shipley added that the decision to break up the development into more phases would allow the project to proceed more quickly.

“Phases were changed from four phases to five phases to expedite getting lots completed as soon as possible to accommodate current demand and the building season,” Shipley wrote in an email. “By reducing the first phase from 49 lots to 22 lots, the lots should be available by mid-summer. Phase 2 will then be started immediately if there is still a demand for lots.”

The project does not call for the building of any homes; instead, Shipley explained that lots will be sold to individuals as well as builders to develop on their own.

The development will require three buildings to be removed from Cameo Drive and the extension of Sieverkropp Drive, Pacific Avenue, and Third, Fourth, and Fifth streets, as well as Second Street, which will link directly into Betty Lou Avenue. Utilities will also need to be extended into the new neighborhood.

“As soon as construction drawings are completed and approved by the city, work will begin on the infrastructure,” Shipley said. “It is our intention to get this project moving as quickly as possible.”